Transport: North East

(asked on 12th April 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State of 17 March 2021, Official Report, column 446, what transport infrastructure has been considered for (a) Tyne and Wear and (b) Durham.


Answered by
Andrew Stephenson Portrait
Andrew Stephenson
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 20th April 2021

As I stated in my oral contribution on 17 March 2021, Official Report, column 446, delivering high-quality, world-class transport infrastructure in northern England and following through on our commitments to level up remain a top priority for the Government. This is certainly the case for Tyne and Wear and Durham.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department has endeavoured to provide the necessary support to local transport operators in Tyne and Wear and Durham, with the Bus Services Operators Grant paid at pre-Covid levels to maintain essential services. Furthermore, Tyne and Wear Metro have received over £33 million from light rail support packages throughout the pandemic.

In keeping with our ambition to build back better, Nexus will receive £20 million of capital funding to deliver infrastructure renewals for the Metro in 2021/22. Furthermore, early last year the Department announced the £500 million Restoring Your Railway fund, to start reopening lines and stations, reconnecting people and communities. We received a bid for development funding for the Leamside Line in round 3 of the Ideas Fund, which closed on 5 March 2021. The Department is currently assessing the bid and we expect to announce outcomes in the summer.

Further to the above, Transport North East was the recipient of £198.4 million in tranche 2 of the Transforming City Fund, which will support transformational projects like Metroflow and the regeneration of Durham Bus Station. As well as this, £13.5 million from the Active Travel Fund was made available to the North East, along with a share of the £4.7 million Rural Mobility Fund delivered to local authorities across the North to help connect isolated communities.

The Department recognises that existing highways infrastructure needs constant improvement, hence £82.9 million was allocated to the North East to support highways maintenance, pothole repairs and local transport measures in 2021/22. This planned investment follows the delivery already well underway, for example on the transformational improvements to the A19 at Downhill Lane and Testo’s roundabout, which will vastly improve traffic flow through this vital corridor when completed later this year.

Finally, subject to the creation of appropriate governance arrangements to agree and deliver funding, the North East will have access to a share of the £4.2 billion intracity transport fund over the next five years from 2022/23. This is in addition to the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund that areas across the country can bid into, demonstrating our commitment to all regions of the UK including Tyne and Wear and Durham.

Reticulating Splines